Reuters - Business Today

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Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Consumer spending jumps; monthly inflation rebounds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending recorded its biggest increase in four months in April and monthly inflation rebounded, pointing to firming domestic demand that could allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

Europe feels the heat as political temperatures rise

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares fell for a fourth day running on Tuesday and the euro was battling to avoid a similar fate, as the prospect of early Italian elections and Greece's ongoing struggles nudged up the political temperature gauge again.

Oil slips on oversupply worries despite OPEC deal

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Tuesday, pressured by concerns that production cuts by the world's big exporters may not be enough to drain a global glut that has depressed the market for almost three years.

Exclusive: ECB to discuss closing door to extra stimulus next week - sources

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymakers are set to take a more benign view of the economy when they meet on June 8 and will even discuss dropping some of their pledges to ramp up stimulus if needed, four sources with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

U.S. companies no longer know rules of game under Trump, Hasbro director says

CASCAIS, Portugal (Reuters) - Confusion surrounding the trade policies of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration means U.S. companies no longer know the rules of the game, a board member and former CEO of toymaker Hasbro told an international conference on Monday.

British PM May calls on BA to fix I.T. system, compensate customers

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May called on British Airways to compensate the thousands of passengers who were left stranded over the weekend by an IT failure and to deliver the service that customers expect of the country's flagship carrier.

LSE to buy Citi's bonds analysis and indexes business for $685 million

(Reuters) - London Stock Exchange (LSE) has agreed to buy The Yield Book, Citigroup's fixed-income analytics service and also its related indexing business, for $685 million in cash, the companies said on Tuesday.

Novartis has assets to sell, investors wary of what it might buy

ZURICH (Reuters) - As Novartis considers asset sales that could raise $50 billion, investors are worried any cash raised may give the Swiss drugmaker firepower for another unsuccessful megadeal.

New Russian jet heralds carbon manufacturing shake-up

PARIS (Reuters) - Russia's new jetliner, which conducted its maiden flight on Sunday, may have a hard time challenging the sales duopoly of Boeing and Airbus, but it does point the way to radical changes in how they could be building jets in the future.

Blackwater founder's FSG buys stake in Chinese security school

BEIJING (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed Frontier Services Group (FSG), co-founded by former U.S. military services contractor Erik Prince, said it had acquired 25 percent of a Chinese security training facility, the company's latest move to tap into China's Belt and Road development plan.